Ain’t no party like a dabke party: Mark Gergis’ Sham Palace releases Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran comp

Dance music today. KIDS today. It’s all Skrillex [wub wub wub]. Or it’s that awful song about the guy who “w-w-w-w-work[s] OUT” that’s supposed to sound “tongue-in-cheek” but is just an endless blitz of douchebombs. People, we all know this schlock isn’t the future of dance music. So, what is? Could it be… new wave electronic dabke?

What’s a new wave electronic dabke, you ask? Well, envision Omar Souleyman locked in a recording studio with Duran Duran. Nah, scratch that. Just imagine Omar Souleyman-style jams, as he’s the maestro with whom most Westerners are probably familiar. And if that’s not working for you, imagine this: a synth-infused take on the hypnotic, special-occasion party music (think weddings, etc.) traditional to the Levantine Middle East. Dabke is characterized by the use of the mejwiz (a double-reed bamboo flute), hand percussion, and vocal chants, and it’s the jam du jour of for Syrians, Bedouins, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Druze in the Houran region in the south of Syria and the northwest of Jordan. And now the good people at Sham Palace have compiled their favorite dabke tracks culled from cassettes and discs recorded during the 90s-00s and sold throughout the Houran region, putting them all onto a nice, shiny new LP called Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran that’s sure to rock your socks off and tie up your dancin’ shoes.

Dabke is the second release (after a Souleyman 2xLP) for Sham Palace, the label run by Mark Gergis, the man behind several Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian collections for the always amazing Sublime Frequencies label. Fun fact: Gergis is the man who introduced the much-ballyhooed Omar Souleyman to the West after seeing him perform in Syria in 1997. He arranged/produced Souleyman’s collabos with Icelandic pixie genius Björk last year. Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran hits stores on June 19 and is limited to a pressing of 1,000 copies.

Dance music today. KIDS today. It’s all Skrillex [wub wub wub]. Or it’s that awful song about the guy who “w-w-w-w-work[s] OUT” that’s supposed to sound “tongue-in-cheek” but is just an endless blitz of douchebombs. People, we all know this schlock isn’t the future of dance music. So, what is? Could it be… new wave electronic dabke?

What’s a new wave electronic dabke, you ask? Well, envision Omar Souleyman locked in a recording studio with Duran Duran. Nah, scratch that. Just imagine Omar Souleyman-style jams, as he’s the maestro with whom most Westerners are probably familiar. And if that’s not working for you, imagine this: a synth-infused take on the hypnotic, special-occasion party music (think weddings, etc.) traditional to the Levantine Middle East. Dabke is characterized by the use of the mejwiz (a double-reed bamboo flute), hand percussion, and vocal chants, and it’s the jam du jour of for Syrians, Bedouins, Palestinians, Jordanians, and Druze in the Houran region in the south of Syria and the northwest of Jordan. And now the good people at Sham Palace have compiled their favorite dabke tracks culled from cassettes and discs recorded during the 90s-00s and sold throughout the Houran region, putting them all onto a nice, shiny new LP called Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran that’s sure to rock your socks off and tie up your dancin’ shoes.

Dabke is the second release (after a Souleyman 2xLP) for Sham Palace, the label run by Mark Gergis, the man behind several Middle Eastern/Southeast Asian collections for the always amazing Sublime Frequencies label. Fun fact: Gergis is the man who introduced the much-ballyhooed Omar Souleyman to the West after seeing him perform in Syria in 1997. He arranged/produced Souleyman’s collabos with Icelandic pixie genius Björk last year. Dabke: Sounds of the Syrian Houran hits stores on June 19 and is limited to a pressing of 1,000 copies.

Summer can’t last forever. Everybody with any sense of time or seasons understands this. Roanoke-based trio Eternal Summers do not understand time or seasons because, well, I don’t think I need to spell this out for you. It’s not their fault, though. You see, Eternal Summers are part of an ongoing experiment by a kooky yet charismatic scientist. It was his idea to put the three Eternal Summers members into cryogenic sleep for the periods of the year that are not summer. Hence, the trio named their band Eternal Summers, as that is their reality. Furthermore, the band is making the best of their three months of consciousness by releasing a new record, Correct Behavior, through Kanine Records on July 24.

Careful planning on their part, releasing their new record right in the very middle of summer. With such a release date, they can spend the time before the record’s release touring America. In fact, they are doing exactly that, with a short string of East Coast dates in June. Once they’ve done that, they can enjoy the release of their new album. Once they’re doing enjoying their album’s release, they go back in that cold, cold tube. And the process beings anew. Isn’t weird, experimental life a beautiful thing?

Correct Behavior tracklist:

01. Millions
02. Wonder
03. You Kill
04. I Love You
05. It’s Easy
06. Girls in the City
07. Heaven and Hell
08. Good As You
09. Disappear
10. Summerset

Have you hears about this? I guess some hippie, liberal, “bras are optional” feminist who calls herself “Björk” is going around trying to educate our kids about these supposed connections between music, nature, and technology. Yeah, she’s teaming up with something called “The New York Public Library” and something else called “The Children’s Museum of Manhattan” this summer to launch a series of programs based around, get this, an “interactive album and accompanying suite of iPad apps” that she released last year called Biophilia (TMT Review). I just listened to the first 30 seconds of one of those songs, and my first thought was “I am in Hell.” My second thought was that this must be what it’s like to be on drugs. Watch the video below. This is what society today passes off as an “artist.”

The NYPL programs reflect the random, “anything-goes” nature of those stupid apps and specifically target middle schoolers with cool lights and sounds and whatnot. They begin in July and run through the fall. The CMOM ones offer daily “drop-in programming” (my pastor says this may well be an LCD reference???) to school groups, summer camps, and families with children ages 3-11. They start July 6 and running and will last through December 30. I know I don’t need to remind you all that Revelation says that during the end times of this Earth age (yes, there are more than one, little miss Björk) before Christ’s return, Satan returns first, pretending to be Christ, promising peace, harmony, and universal love. Don’t be fooled. He is using many of today’s popular entertainers and social leaders to set the stage for him. I know you are teaching this to your children and grandchildren so that they can hopefully set a good example for future generations, unlike this Björk, or whatever her real name is.

It’s not really news when you say that Dominick Fernow is doing shit. That’s kind of like announcing that Bushwick smells like cat litter, that Bradford Cox likes reverb, or that I have a chip on my shoulder. It’s pretty much common knowledge. But get this, Fernow isn’t just making a tape or a collage ‘zine, he’s starting a whole new imprint!

That’s right, the man behind Prurient, Vatican Shadow, and everyone’s favorite record label Hospital Productions, is beginning a new imprint called Bed of Nails. According to FACT, June 18 will mark the label’s first release with a new 12-inch by Vatican Shadow entitled September Cell (and limited to 700 copies). If the new record is any indication of the new imprint’s focus, then you should expect some rhythmic grooves beating out of the ol’ Bed of Nails. But let’s not make assumptions.

September Cell EP tracklisting:

A1. September Cell (The Storm)
A2. September Cell (The Punishment)
B1. Cairo Is a Haunted City
B2. One Day He Heard the Call

Fantastic news, everyone! Medieval gothic tomb sprites Dead Can Dance are back! The original worldbeat/goth 4AD flava etherealists have returned from their lengthy slumber and they’re bearing spoOoOoky beautiful gifts, in the form of their first album of new material in a sweet 16 years. So, that’s it. All you swoopy-haired Renaissance Festival minstrels armed with cardboard swords, cheesy harmonies, and sad 15th-century imagery can just CAN it. Because Dead Can Dance are the original purveyors of “hey, a Gregorian chant would sound cool with this swirling art rock,” and they can do it a hell of a lot better than anybody else.

Founding duo Lisa Gerrard and Brendan Perry started working on this baby, entitled Anastatis, back in fall 2011. The album was recorded at Quivy Studios in Ireland in the early months of 2012. Of working with Gerrard again, Perry said, “It will be a spring album to coincide with both natures awakening and the groups subsequent rebirth.” The band will set sail on a world tour for eight months this summer — their first dates since DCD’s sold out 2005 tour. (Live recordings from this tour are available as free digital downloads for a limited time via the band’s website. Each digital EP is part of the Live Happenings series, and are replaced every few months.) Fans can expect a mix of new tracks and classics on Dead Can Dance’s 2012 world tour. Just keep the velvet leggings at home, people, okay?